Mrs Angela Thomas
Curriculum Tutor
School of Education, Childhood, Youth & Sport
Biography
Angela joined the Open University team in March 2025 as a Secondary Curriculum Tutor on the PGCE programme to support the new strand of teacher training for Modern Foreign Languages. As a practice tutor, Angela has experience of working alongside student teachers, mentors and school coordinators in both the primary and secondary sectors.
Angela’s background is in predominantly in secondary education. After completing a BA(hons) in European Business Management with German and French, she completed a PGCE course in secondary Modern Foreign Languages and later a PGCE in Leadership & Management. Angela has taught Languages for 24 years across the age and ability ranges in several secondary schools in the Welsh valleys and inner-city, in addition to leadership responsibilities for Initial Teacher Education and whole-school professional learning. She has also taught on adult further education courses such as ESOL and Spanish for Beginners.
Since 2021, Angela has been working more closely with the OU PGCE in Wales programme as a consultant on a number of Praxis scholarship projects. The move into Higher Education has enabled Angela to continue to work in the field of ITE in Wales, develop teaching pedagogies for adult learners and undertake a master's degree in education.
Research interests
Angela has a wide interest in academic research, as evident in the Praxis scholarship projects on effective mentoring, video technology, professional conversations and reflective practices. She also has a passion for language teaching and the field of applied linguistics. For her Master's dissertation, Angela has combined the study of language teaching with technological innovations and is currently exploring the extent to which Virtual Reality Headsets can be used to improve adult ESOL learners’ English competence and confidence during public speaking.
Teaching interests
Angela’s finds pleasure in the teaching of languages and is always striving to improve her own knowledge of German, French, Spanish, ESOL and Welsh. In her curriculum tutor and practice tutor roles for the PGCE Wales programme, Angela contributes to the PGCE programme development and training events with school-based partners.
